Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the boxer who fought for 19 years to free himself from prison after twice being convicted of a mysterious triple killing at a Paterson bar in 1966, is in his final bout: He has terminal cancer but is still fighting to free a Brooklyn man he believes is wrongly accused of murder.

Carter, 77, has prostate cancer and is spending his final days in Toronto with his loyal former co-defendant, John Artis. The two former Paterson men head a non-profit, Innocence International Inc., dedicated to freeing prisoners it believes have been wrongly convicted.

“It’s impossible to say when a man will die, but he doesn’t have long,” said Ken Klonsky, the non-profit’s communications director. “He is conscious, but his body is deteriorated, and he is very weak.”

Carter penned an op-ed piece that ran in Friday’s New York Daily News advocating for the release of David McCallum of Brooklyn, imprisoned since 1985. He and another man were teenagers when they were charged with the murder of a Queens man, Nathan Brenner, 20.

“I am now quite literally on my deathbed and am making my final wish to those with the legal authority to act,” Carter wrote. “I request only that McCallum be granted a full hearing by the Brooklyn conviction integrity unit,” under new District Attorney Ken Thompson.

Neither Carter nor Artis returned a phone call Tuesday seeking comment. Carol Usher, a spokeswoman for the King’s County District Attorney’s Office, which includes Brooklyn, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On behalf of McCallum, Carter is lending his historical weight to a man he feels was wrongly accused — just as the attorneys, journalists, activists and celebrities rushed to his side after he and Artis were convicted of shooting three people to death inside the Lafayette Bar and Grill on East 18th Street early on June 17, 1966.

The Carter-Artis case had racial overtones from the start. All the victims were white. Only hours earlier, at the nearby Waltz Inn, a black bar owner, Leroy Holloway, had been shot dead by a white man, Frank Conforti. The state would later offer “racial revenge” as a motive for the Lafayette Bar slayings.

Two key witnesses told police they saw two black men in a white Dodge with out-of-state plates quickly leave the scene. Carter and Artis had been pulled over by Paterson police just minutes after the shooting in Carter’s leased Dodge, which fit the description. Ammunition matching the guns used in the shootings but not the exact make was found in the car.

Carter and Artis were questioned that night, but their clothing was never tested for gunpowder residue or blood spatters, and they were let go. On Oct. 14, 1966, Carter and Artis were arrested and charged with murder.

The first trial, in Passaic County Superior Court, played out against a backdrop of racial tension as the Civil Rights Movement’s message of non-violence gave way to increased militancy. The leader of the Carter-Artis defense team, Raymond Brown, was black. The prosecution, led by Vincent Hull, was white.

The all-white jury found Carter and Artis guilty of murder in May 1967, and both were sent to Rahway State Prison. In ensuing years, the case became more than a murder trial: As Carter filed a series of appeals, it came to be about whether justice was tainted by race.

Although Carter had only an eighth-grade education, he wrote a book, “The 16th Round: From Number One Contender to Number 45472,” that gained the attention of reform-minded attorneys, journalists and celebrities. In 1976, the state Supreme Court overturned the verdicts and ordered a new trial. Carter and Artis were freed on bail.

After both men were convicted in a second trial, Carter and his lawyers were able to move the case to federal court, where they argued that the entire prosecution had been racially tinged. On Nov. 7, 1985, U.S. District Court Judge H. Lee Sarokin issued a writ of habeus corpus, which declares neither guilt nor innocence but focuses on the fairness of the legal process. Sarokin found that the convictions were “predicated on an appeal to racism rather than reason, and concealment rather than disclosure.”

After his release, Carter went to Toronto and became active in inmates rights, through Innocence International.

Email: cowenr@northjersey.com

Rubin Carter and John Artis during a press conference in December 1976.

Rubin “Hurricane” Carter, the boxer who fought for 19 years to free himself from prison after twice being convicted of a mysterious triple killing at a Paterson bar in 1966, is in his final bout: He has terminal cancer but is still fighting to free a Brooklyn man he believes is wrongly accused of murder.

Carter, 77, has prostate cancer and is spending his final days in Toronto with his loyal former co-defendant, John Artis. The two former Paterson men head a non-profit, Innocence International Inc., dedicated to freeing prisoners it believes have been wrongly convicted.

“It’s impossible to say when a man will die, but he doesn’t have long,” said Ken Klonsky, the non-profit’s communications director. “He is conscious, but his body is deteriorated, and he is very weak.”

Carter penned an op-ed piece that ran in Friday’s New York Daily News advocating for the release of David McCallum of Brooklyn, imprisoned since 1985. He and another man were teenagers when they were charged with the murder of a Queens man, Nathan Brenner, 20.

“I am now quite literally on my deathbed and am making my final wish to those with the legal authority to act,” Carter wrote. “I request only that McCallum be granted a full hearing by the Brooklyn conviction integrity unit,” under new District Attorney Ken Thompson.

Neither Carter nor Artis returned a phone call Tuesday seeking comment. Carol Usher, a spokeswoman for the King’s County District Attorney’s Office, which includes Brooklyn, did not immediately respond to a request for comment.

On behalf of McCallum, Carter is lending his historical weight to a man he feels was wrongly accused — just as the attorneys, journalists, activists and celebrities rushed to his side after he and Artis were convicted of shooting three people to death inside the Lafayette Bar and Grill on East 18th Street early on June 17, 1966.

The Carter-Artis case had racial overtones from the start. All the victims were white. Only hours earlier, at the nearby Waltz Inn, a black bar owner, Leroy Holloway, had been shot dead by a white man, Frank Conforti. The state would later offer “racial revenge” as a motive for the Lafayette Bar slayings.

Two key witnesses told police they saw two black men in a white Dodge with out-of-state plates quickly leave the scene. Carter and Artis had been pulled over by Paterson police just minutes after the shooting in Carter’s leased Dodge, which fit the description. Ammunition matching the guns used in the shootings but not the exact make was found in the car.

Carter and Artis were questioned that night, but their clothing was never tested for gunpowder residue or blood spatters, and they were let go. On Oct. 14, 1966, Carter and Artis were arrested and charged with murder.

The first trial, in Passaic County Superior Court, played out against a backdrop of racial tension as the Civil Rights Movement’s message of non-violence gave way to increased militancy. The leader of the Carter-Artis defense team, Raymond Brown, was black. The prosecution, led by Vincent Hull, was white.

The all-white jury found Carter and Artis guilty of murder in May 1967, and both were sent to Rahway State Prison. In ensuing years, the case became more than a murder trial: As Carter filed a series of appeals, it came to be about whether justice was tainted by race.

Although Carter had only an eighth-grade education, he wrote a book, “The 16th Round: From Number One Contender to Number 45472,” that gained the attention of reform-minded attorneys, journalists and celebrities. In 1976, the state Supreme Court overturned the verdicts and ordered a new trial. Carter and Artis were freed on bail.

After both men were convicted in a second trial, Carter and his lawyers were able to move the case to federal court, where they argued that the entire prosecution had been racially tinged. On Nov. 7, 1985, U.S. District Court Judge H. Lee Sarokin issued a writ of habeus corpus, which declares neither guilt nor innocence but focuses on the fairness of the legal process. Sarokin found that the convictions were “predicated on an appeal to racism rather than reason, and concealment rather than disclosure.”

After his release, Carter went to Toronto and became active in inmates rights, through Innocence International.